November 21, 2011 — Westphal Product Design students along with Electrical Engineering
students from the College of Engineering worked for a week assembling a
MakerBot Thing-O-Matic 3D printer. The MakerBot Thing-O-Matic 3D printer
is a revolutionary printer that creates a manufacturing station that
allows users to create any type of 3D image and print it from a
CAD-generated sketch. Students involved in the project first assembled
the Thing-O-Matic printer and then set out sketching their concepts and
working through various printing iterations, which are now ongoing
projects in the Product Design facilities on the 7th floor of Nesbitt
Hall.

The Thing-O-Matic 3D printer is solidifying Product
Design’s vision to be a community of makers that stretches beyond the
Product Design program and engages many others in the Drexel community.
The printer is open for use by all students at the University who are
willing to work under the direction of Product Design Program Director,
Mike Glaser. Ultimately, the Thing-O-Matic 3D printer will blur the
lines between analog and digital fabrications where students use both
interchangeably in the objects they create. It could be an innovative
improvement for a bicycle or working with Biomedical Engineering to
create a new device for saving lives. The great difference between with
the Thing-O-Matic 3D printer and other rapid prototype solutions is the
Thing-O-Matic’s ability to be a high-end production factory that can be
used to create new products.

Students are already creating toys and other types of
products using the Thing-O-Matic 3D printer. To get a better
understanding of the printer and its limitless possibilities contact
Product Design Program Director, Mike Glaser (mdg56@drexel.edu).
Please tell Mike if you want to tour the product design facilities
including the Thing-O-Matic 3D printing and hybrid making labs.